The prayer of need (Salat al-Hajah): what is authentic, how to pray it, and which supplications to say

"Salat al-Hajah", the prayer of need, is the name people give to two voluntary units of prayer followed by asking Allah for a specific need. This page explains the texts, the ruling and the steps. It is not a prayer-times page; if you want today's times go to prayer times.

The short answer first

• No authentic hadith establishes a special prayer called "the prayer of need" with a fixed number of units and a conditional supplication.
• What is established: pray two voluntary units, then ask Allah for your need using the authentic supplications. Prayer and supplication are both legitimate means of seeking help.
• If your need is a decision between two options, the prescribed practice is the Istikharah prayer with its reported wording.

Step by step

1. Begin by leaving sin and returning what you owe others; supplication paired with correcting your state is closer to acceptance.
2. Perform wudu properly.
3. Pray two voluntary units. There is no extra takbir and no special form.
4. Recite whatever you know of the Quran; no particular surah is authentically specified.
5. Lengthen the prostration, for supplication in prostration is among the most hopeful moments.
6. After the prayer: praise Allah, then send salawat upon the Prophet, peace be upon him.
7. Ask for your need clearly and insistently, without saying "if You wish".
8. Close with salawat and praise, then take the practical steps your need requires.

The best times

The last third of the night, between the adhan and the iqamah, while in prostration, the final hour of Friday, and when a fasting person breaks the fast. You can see when these enter in your city on prayer times.

The authentic supplications for a need

Reported by Abu Dawud (1493) and al-Tirmidhi (3475), where it is stated that Allah was asked by His greatest name, by which when He is asked He gives.

Reported by al-Tirmidhi (3524) and graded acceptable by a number of scholars. It is among the most comprehensive supplications for a need, because it asks that all one's affairs be set right, not only one of them.

The Quran makes prayer a means of seeking help

Whoever prays and then supplicates has sought help by what Allah commanded, and this is the real basis of what people do under the name "prayer of need", with no need for a weak report.

The verse moves the reader from counting units to the point: nearness and response are tied to calling upon Allah and responding to Him, not to an invented formula.

Table: popular claims and whether they have a basis

Which practice fits your situation

Frequently asked

• Is the prayer of need an innovation? The name is a convention; the practice of two units followed by supplication is legitimate. The innovation is binding yourself to an unestablished count, wording or hour and attributing it to the Prophet, peace be upon him.
• When do I pray it? At any time outside the disliked times, preferably in the hours of response listed above.
• Should I repeat it? Yes. Insistence in supplication is praised, without believing in a fixed number.
• Why has my need not been met? A response may come as the thing asked for, as a delay that is better, or as harm turned away. That is part of thinking well of Allah.
• Is it prayed in congregation? It is not established as a congregational sunnah; each person prays it alone.

Two practical steps tonight

1. Memorise one of the two supplications above exactly as reported, and do not swap it for a popular text with no source. More texts are collected on the adhkar page.
2. Fix one time each day, the last third of the night or between adhan and iqamah, pray two units and supplicate then, and keep your count on the tasbih counter.